The Afghan Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Afghan Armed Forces. It is divided into four wings, with the 1st Wing at Kabul, the 2nd Wing at Kandahar, the 3rd Wing at Shindand, the 4th Wing at Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan. Lt. Gen. Mohammad Dawran has served as Chief of Staff of the Afghan Air Force and Major General Abdul Wahab Wardak as the Afghan Air Force Commander; the command center of the Afghan Air Force is located at Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul. The Shindand Air Base in Herat Province serves as the main training facility; the Afghan Air Force was established in 1924 under the reign of King Amanullah and modernized by King Zahir Shah in the 1960s. During the 1980s, the Soviet Union built up the Afghan Air Force, first in an attempt to defeat the mujahideen and in hopes that strong Afghan airpower would preserve the pro-Soviet government of Najibullah; the Afghan Air Force had over 400 aircraft, including more than 200 Soviet-made fighter jets. The collapse of Najibullah's government in 1992 and the continuation of a civil war throughout the 1990s reduced the number of Afghan aircraft to less than a dozen.

During Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001, in which the Taliban government was ousted from power, all that remained of the AAF was a few helicopters. Since 2007, the NATO Combined Air Power Transition Force, renamed the NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan in 2010, has worked to rebuild and modernize the Afghan Air Force; the CAPTF / NATC-A serves as the air component of the NATO Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, responsible for rebuilding the Afghan Armed Forces. The AAF has about 183 aircraft and over 7,000 airmen; the Resolute Support Mission wants to raise the ranks of the AAF to 8,000 airmen and increase the number of aircraft, which are progressively getting more advanced. The Afghan Air Force began on 22 August 1924. In 1924 and 1925 it saw action; as early as 1921, the Soviet Union and Great Britain provided a small number of aircraft to Afghanistan's King Amanullah Khan, impressed with the British use of aircraft against his government in 1919, however they were not made into a separate air arm until 1924.

For the next decade, Soviet pilots performed the bulk of the flying and equipping for the AAF about one-half of the aircraft were Polikarpov R-1s, a Soviet copy of the de Havilland DH.9A. Most AAF aircraft were destroyed in the civil war that began in December 1928, it was not before 1937 that a serious rebuilding effort began. From the late 1930s until World War II, British Hawker Hind and Italian IMAM Ro.37 aircraft constituted the bulk of the Afghan Air Force, which by 1938 amounted to about 30 planes in service. The Hawker Hind remained in the Afghan inventory until 1957, as of 2009 one former Afghan Air Force Hawker Hind still flew in the Shuttleworth Collection. In 1947, the Air Force was redesignated the Royal Afghan Air Force, a title it retained until further political upheaval in 1973. By 1960, the Royal Afghan Air Force consisted of 100 combat aircraft including MiG-15 fighters, Il-28 light bombers, a few helicopters. By that time, a small number of Afghan pilots were undergoing undergraduate pilot training in the United States, while others attended training in the Soviet Union and several European countries.

In the 1973 "bloodless" coup, King Zahir Shah was deposed and Mohammed Daoud Khan became the country's president. During his five years in power, until the Communist coup of 1978, Daoud relied on Soviet assistance to upgrade the capabilities and increase the size of the Afghan Air Force, introducing newer-models of Soviet-built MiG-21 fighters and An-24 and An-26 transports. Improvements in the early-to-mid-1970s notwithstanding, the Afghan Air Force remained small until after the 1979–80 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. While the Afghan Air Force was equipped with a large inventory – some 400 aircraft in the mid-1980s – many of them were manned and maintained by advisors from Czechoslovakia and Cuba. In many cases, the Soviets were reluctant to entrust Afghan pilots with either the latest aircraft models or high priority missions and, indeed, a number of Afghan pilots were reluctant to conduct air strikes against their countrymen; the Afghan Air Force was at its strongest in the 1980s and early 1990s, producing some concern on the part of neighboring countries.

The Air Force had at least 7,000 personnel plus 5,000 foreign advisors. At its peak, the Air Force had at least 240 fixed-wing combat aircraft, 150 helicopters, 40 or more Antonov transports of various models. Midway through the Soviet-Afghan war, one estimate of Afghan air power listed the following inventory: 90 MiG-17s – one regiment of MiG-17s and MiG-19s reported at Mazar-i-Sharif in 1990. 45 MiG-21s – in 1990, three squadrons were reported at Bagram Airfield 60 Su-7s and Su-17s – Warplane, a British partwork, reported in its issue 21, published in 1985, that some 48 Su-7BMs, without Su-7UM two-seaters, had been supplied from 1970, forming the equipment of two fighter/ground attack squadrons at Shindand Airbase. 45 Il-28s 150 Mi-8s and Mi-24s Additionally, the Afghan Air Force operated some 40 or more transports, including the An-26, An-24, An-2. Another estimate in 1988 painted a more detailed picture of the Afghan Air Force: 322nd Air Regiment, Bagram Air Base, three fighter squadrons with 40 MiG-21s 321st Air Regiment, Bagram Air Base, three fighter/bomber squadrons with Su-7/Su-22 393rd Air Regiment, Dehdadi Air Base, three fighter/bo

George Grigore is a Romanian writer, translator, researcher in Middle Eastern Studies. George Grigore was born in the village of Grindu, Ialomița, on 2 February 1958. In 1983, he graduated the Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures of the University of Bucharest. In 1997, he earned a Ph. D. from the same university, with the dissertation entitled Some Questions Regarding the Translation of the Qur’an into Romanian. In 2000, as an editor-translator at Kriterion Publishing House ro:Editura Kriterion, he launched the Bibliotheca Islamica collection, where he has published his own translations of numerous works fundamental to Islamic culture, works of other translators, his translation of the Qur’an was most noteworthy and published in several editions, including a bilingual one, printed in Istanbul, in 2003. He has published studies on the Qur’an and Islam, as well as on the Arabic dialects, with a special focus on the dialects of Baghdad and Mardin, he has undertaken research in Kurdish Studies.

Since 2001, George Grigore has been the associate editor of Romano-Arabica, the academic review published by the Center of Arabic Studies at the University of Bucharest. Grigore has published translations of Romanian literature into Arabic, among which The Mould, by the Romanian playwright Marin Sorescu and The Tyranny of Dream, by the Romanian poet Carolina Ilica, his anthology of Romanian poetry rendered into Arabic has been awarded the prize of the Iraqi Writers Union. In addition to lecturing at the University of Bucharest, Grigore has written various practical books for students of the Arabic language, such as dictionaries, a conversation guide, a manual of orthography and calligraphy. Member of the Association Internationale de Dialectologie Arabe Member of the Romanian Association for Religious Studies Member of the Writers’ Union of Romania Honorary Member of the Iraqi Writers’ Union Member of the Center of Arabic Studies, University of Bucharest Ambassador of Alliance of Civilizations for Romania L’arabe parlé à Mardin.

Monographie d’un parler arabe “périphérique”, Editura Universitatii din Bucuresti, 2007 Problematica traducerii Coranului în limba română, Ararat, 1997 Poveşti irakiene, Coresi, 1993 Slujitorii Diavolului. Poeme. Kriterion, 2009 Ibn Sīnā, The Book of Definitions. Translation from the Arabic language and bibliography by George Grigore. Notes and comments by George Grigore, Alexander Baumgarten, Paula Tomi and Mădălina Pantea. Chronological table by Gabriel Bițună. Critical transcription of the Latin version of the treaty and the comments of Andrea Alpago, along with the translation of the comments in the Romanian language, by Alexander Baumgarten. Iași: Polirom Publishing House, Medieval Library Series, 2012. A bibliography of George Grigore's works in Ioana Feodorov, The Arab World in the Romanian Culture The Arabic Department, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Bucharest The Chair of Oriental Languages, Faculty of Foreign Languages and Literatures, University of Bucharest The Conference The Qur'an: Text, Interpretation & Translation, The School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London Online Quran Project includes the Qur'an translation by George Grigore.

Conference on Communication and Information Structure in Spoken Arabic, University of Maryland First International Symposium on Mardin History Arab Studies at the University of Bucharest: 50 Years

The blue malkoha or chattering yellowbill is a species of cuckoo in the family Cuculidae. It was conspecific with the green malkoha until split in 2016, it has a widespread distribution across the tropical evergreen forests of Africa of west and central Africa. The blue malkoha has a greyish belly and throat and a heavy yellow bill but subspecies display some differences in plumage colouration. C. aereus aereus has a greenish and blue tail and back, while C. aereus flavirostris has a blue tail and back. The blue malkoha feeds on insects caterpillars, beetles and crickets, it moves through the tangled vegetation with a series of small hops, snatching prey. It will accompany other squirrels, taking the insects flushed by them. Unlike some other cuckoos the blue malkoha is not a brood parasite, instead it cares for its own young. Two white and creamy eggs are laid in a nest, a rough mass of sticks suspended around 2–5 m above the ground. Both parents care for the young; the blue malkoha is an uncommon species and observed due to its secretive behaviour.

However it is not considered threatened, is listed as least concern by the IUCN. The blue malkoha has two subspecies: C. a. flavirostris - Gambia to southwest Nigeria C. a. aereus - Nigeria to western Kenya, northern Zambia and Angola, Bioko Payne, R. B The Cuckoos. Oxford University Press: Oxford ISBN 0-19-850213-3

The Calo tester known as a ball craterer or coating thickness tester, is a quick and inexpensive piece of equipment used to measure the thickness of coatings. Coatings with thicknesses between 0.1 to 50 micrometres, such as Physical Vapor Deposition coatings or Chemical Vapor Deposition coatings, are used in many industries to improve the surface properties of tools and components. The Calo tester is used to measure the amount of coating wear after a wear test carried out using a Pin-on-Disc Tester; the Calo tester consists of a holder for the surface to be tested and a steel sphere of known diameter, rotated against the surface by a rotating shaft connected to a motor whilst diamond paste is applied to the contact area. The sphere is rotated for a short period of time but due to the abrasive nature of the diamond paste this is sufficient time to wear a crater through thin coatings. An optical microscope is used to take two measurements across the crater after the Calo test and the coating thickness is calculated using a simple geometrical equation.

T = x y d Where t = coating thickness, d = diameter of the sphere x = difference between the radius of the crater and radius of the part of the crater at the bottom of the coating x+y = diameter of the crater www.pvd-coatings.co.uk on Coasting Thickness Tester Determination of layer thickness with a spherical cap grinder

Saul David was an American book editor and film producer. Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, he won an art competition and received a scholarship to the Rhode Island School of Design, which he attended from 1937 to 1940. After graduation he worked at a radio station in York, Pennsylvania and on a newspaper in Port Huron, Michigan. During World War II, David enlisted in the US Army where he wrote for Yank, the Army Weekly and the Stars and Stripes in North Africa and Europe. From 1950 to 1960 David worked at Bantam, starting as a publisher's reader advancing to editorial director and editor in chief, he had known Bantam's president Oscar Dystel during their time working on Stars and Stripes in Cairo. Whilst at Bantam David hired artist James Avati. Rather than reprint several hardcover Western authors, David thought of hiring and promoting one author to write three original books for Bantam every year. Out of a shortlist of five authors, David chose Louis L'Amour, disillusioned with Fawcett publishing.

David left Bantam to work for Columbia Warner Brothers. Whilst at Warners David acquired the Single Girl for the studio; when one studio executive told him the book had no plot, David replied "I told you that a hundred thousand dollars ago". He became a producer at 20th Century Fox with the 1964 World War II prisoner of war adventure Von Ryan's Express filmed on location in Italy with Frank Sinatra and a strong cast, he produced three spy-fi films, Our Man Flint, Fantastic Voyage, In Like Flint. All four films were big commercial successes; the plot of In Like Flint concerns a missing three minutes in the life of the President of the United States. When Fox edited out three minutes of In Like Flint that added more depth to the film, David left the studio. Years David was enraged when watching ten to fifteen minutes cut out of Our Man Flint during a television showing that "was not so much re-edited as lobotomised into senselessness", he wrote to California Senator George Murphy to say that as a publisher had to inform readers they were buying and reading an abridged works so should television stations inform their viewers they were watching abridged films.

David produced Skullduggery for ABC Pictures, but after a disagreement the film and David went to Universal Pictures. Though he announced a busy production schedule of five films, none were made. Still interested in science fiction David recalled the book Logan's Run and produced the film in 1976. Logan's Run won a Special Achievement Academy Award for visual effects, presented by actor Roy Scheider to L. B. Abbott, Glen Robinson, Matthew Yuricich at the 49th Annual Academy Awards show on March 28, 1977 at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. During his acceptance speech, L. B. Abbott said, "I want to sincerely thank the Board of Directors of the Academy; the producer, Mr. Saul David, that great host of wonderful helpers made this accolade possible for me."MGM hired David to produce a television version of the film in 1977 but fired him and "hired and inept team of producers who knew nothing whatever about science fiction," said William F. Nolan, he died of congestive heart failure in California. Von Ryan's Express Our Man Flint Fantastic Voyage In Like Flint Skullduggery - Berl Tanen Logan's Run David, Saul The Industry: Life in the Hollywood Fast Lane 1981 Times Books Saul David on IMDb

Edward Kenworthy Hornby was an English Conservative Party politician. He sat in the House of Commons from 1869 to 1874. Hornby was the second son of the industrialist and politician William Henry Hornby and his wife Susannah née Birley, his brothers Albert and Cecil were both cricketers, his brother William was a politician. He became a Justice of the Peace for Lancashire. On 16 March 1869, the result of the 1868 general election in the borough of Blackburn was declared null and void, after an election petition had been lodged; the two Conservatives, elected, Joseph Feilden and Edward Hornby's father William Henry Hornby, were unseated when Mr Justice Willes found that there had been widespread intimidation of voters. Edward Hornby was elected at the resulting by-election on 31 March 1869, along with Joseph Feilden's son Henry Master Feilden. Both candidates had appealed for support as a tribute to their fathers, and Hornby had asserted that he had "no vain idea" that his own merits were enough to qualify him as an MP.

He held the seat until 1874, did not contest the 1874 general election. Hornby was a brother of England cricket team captain A. N. Hornby and he played in one first-class match himself in 1862. Hansard 1803–2005: contributions in Parliament by Edward Hornby Edward Hornby at CricketArchive